Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The water shortage in Kazakhstan may increase significantly by 2050, Minister of Environmental Protection Nurlan Kapparov said on Friday at the conference on Building a green economy in Kazakhstan.

"The water shortage in Kazakhstan will grow. Our country is already dependent on transboundary waters. We receive almost over 50 percent of our water supply from the neighboring countries, while our domestic resources can meet only half of the inner demand. Without actions, in case of a negative scenario, the demand for water resources in the country will exceed the supply threefold," Kapparov said.

According to him, one of the main reasons for the negative scenario would be the increasing water demand of the countries bordering rivers and domestic water demand in Kazakhstan.

Kapparov noted that Kazakhstan would compensate water deficit thanks to domestic resources of deglaciation for a short period of time, however, when this process ends, the water deficit will again be noticeable.

The Kazakh government will take all necessary measures to prevent such a negative scenario, he said.

According to Kapparov, it is planned to introduce water conservation technology to hold training sessions with the population, to build new artificial water reservoirs and artificial lakes in Kazakhstan.